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10/21/2006Effort to recall supervisor under way in Bingham TownshipTRAVERSE CITY — Bingham Township Supervisor Robert Foster faces a campaign to recall him from office, on the heels of a lawsuit that alleges he retaliated against the township's former clerk. Bingham Township resident Margaret Johnson on Thursday filed the proposed recall language with the Leelanau County clerk's office. The petition alleges Foster's dereliction of statutory duties as supervisor. It lists several specific examples, including verbally harassing and intimidating other elected officials and placing the township at risk by claiming he had permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to groom Hendryx Park beach. The recall language also claims Foster used the Leelanau Chamber of Commerce bulk mail permit, which the township had purchased the right to use, for personal mailings and that he unilaterally retrieved a check the township board authorized to Suttons Bay Public Schools for a summer recreation program. Foster said all the allegations made in the petition are false. He called the recall effort a political smear campaign spearheaded by former township officials. Johnson stood by the claims she submitted to the county clerk. "The language in the petition speaks for itself," she said. The county election commission must approve the recall petition wording for clarity during a Nov. 7 hearing before circulators can gather signatures. Foster, his wife Patricia and Bingham Township are defendants in a pending civil lawsuit filed by former Bingham Township clerk Dorothy Petroskey, who resigned in August. The suit alleges a pattern of retaliation and harassment led by Foster beginning in late May after Petroskey reported the supervisor's alleged unauthorized beach grooming. Foster's response to Petroskey's suit denies retaliating against the former clerk and states he was not involved in the work at Hendryx Park. See related stories:
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